Here's my first trip report for the outward leg of a trip I took to Wales a few weeks ago - let me know what you think of it 
James
17th February 2020
Today’s journey started with me running to make the 11:13 service from Woking to Portsmouth & Southsea after seeing the 11:25 service, which I had planned to get, had been cancelled while I walked over Woking’s footbridge. I just made this train, thanks to the guard holding the doors for me.
This friendly guard proceeded to have a conversation with me and we discussed my planned itinerary for this trip and my hope that I’d still manage it despite severe weather causing major disruption throughout Wales. To my surprise, the guard then checked the tickets of all those aboard, even asking for railcards, a true luxury on the South Western Railway where most guards sit in the rear cab conducting their “oh so safety critical” roles – in fact proving that drivers are perfectly capable of opening and closing the doors from the cab…
I ended up arriving into Guildford significantly earlier than I had intended to, resulting in a long wait on the cold platform and me having to exercise the utmost self control to avoid breaking my journey and making a visit to the station’s Costa. I was holding on in the hope that I would win the Seatfrog auction and hence a £10 upgrade to First Class on one of Great Western Railway’s infamously uncomfortable Intercity Express Trains, which fortunately I did.
I took my seat on the moderately busy Networker Turbo and thought I better check my journey on GWR JourneyCheck, following the constant bombardment of reminders to, “check before travel,” that I receive from every Train Operating Company going and Network Rail. In this instance, I was glad I did as I discovered that my train would be diverted past Swindon, adding 41 minutes to the journey – something very poorly advertised. This also explained my service was VAR this morning, when I checked in on Real Time Trains, I thought something more than a change from electrification to diesel in certain sections was the cause of this…
I finished off a fortnight’s old copy of RAIL magazine on my iPad, downloaded the next on Great Western Railway’s consistently working WiFi, and enjoyed the surprisingly scenic ride through suburbia to Reading.
Arriving into Reading on time, I was delighted to discover that I could fit my iPad Mini into my coat pocket, making my travel around the station a lot easier, without having to stow my tablet back into my rather full bag. I made my way with 10 minutes to spare over to Platform 9B, and stood in Zone 4, where my new seat reservation from Seatfrog would be most easily accessible from.
However, as time went by, I became concerned by the IET on the adjacent platform not having moved upwards of 10 minutes from its scheduled departure and decided it was time to investigate. I made my way towards the, “Staff Information,” screen and watched some very unusual signalling moves and then eventually saw that my train, 1B14, had been signalled into Platform 12 – very much not Platform 9. A GWR Train Manager joined me at the screen and seemed as perplexed as I, and at the point I decided to make my way over to the new platform, giving me a 30 second advantage while we waited for National Rail’s Darwin to catch up with the replatforming.
I managed to board my train, but became stuck behind a trolley – the operator of which kindly informed me there we free seats further up and the train and cleared a space for me to pass through. I walked through half a carriage of Standard seating on the IET and was reminded of the many hours I’ve spent on those, “rocks masquerading as Standard Class seats,” as my colleague very fittingly put it.
I must admit that I was a bit disappointed when I first entered the First Class carriage, as I saw children running around and the whole carriage was quite dirty. The train definitely needed a wash, which sadly made it hard to take any good photos out of the window and gave a delightful grey tint to the view. The table seemed somewhat sticky and the seat was adorned with crumbs, however it was thankfully a lot more comfortable than the Standard Class slabs and the moveable headrest was a nice touch. However, the parts of the headrest you would expect to be able to fold in to lean on, you could not which was quite disappointing. The reclining mechanism worked as expected and gave a very generous amount of recline. Tables were well sized and legroom was generous in every seat I sampled.
I plugged my laptop’s charger into the well positioned plug sockets, accompanied by USB ports, on the side of the seat and cracked on with some work. Fifteen minutes down the line, we were travelling very slowly and eventually came to an unscheduled stop at Didcot Parkway, where we waited for a freight train to pass ahead of us. At this point, I’d started to become hungry and was eagerly awaiting the promised, “at-seat food and drink service,” promised for First Class customers.
We pulled into Swindon where I admired the lovely new Infotec Departure Boards, with so much more information than we’re given on the South Western Mainline. These space-age looking departure boards stood in stark contrast to the white lettering which adorned the waiting room in British Rail’s Rail Alphabet font reading, “Air Conditioned Waiting Room.”
Following our departure from Swindon, at 13:40, to my delight, the, “at-seat service,” began and upon asking what was on offer, I was only told about food and the host neglected to mention the complimentary food available, however she was very kind so we’ll let it slide. I was then offered either a cheese or ham sandwich, I opted for the cheese which transpired to be Cheese and Chutney – luckily still to my liking. I was hoping for one of the Great Western Railway Roast Beef sandwiches I saw being dished out on a High Speed Train years ago, however all of GWR’s produce now seems to be outsourced. I was given a packet of Tyrells Lightly Sea Salted crisps and a cup of coffee, which was just about right, and served in a GWR First Class cup (pictured below).
The sandwich was acceptable, but nothing at all extraordinary, the bread wasn’t dry but also wasn’t fresh and the filling was pleasant. The crisps were fine, but again, nothing more.
As I devoured my lunch, we spent what seemed not far from an eternity (30 minutes) crawling through Chipping Sodbury Tunnel, I believe due to flooding, which very unpleasantly caused my ears to pop countless times as water splashed on the train windows. I spent a while cursing the sake of Chipping Sod while the temperature of the train continued to decline to an almost uncomfortably cold level. Luckily, I still had some of my economically sized coffee to keep me warm.
As we left the tunnel, our slow speed (5mph Temporary Speed Restriction) continued until 14:40, where we rapidly accelerated to 100mph, with the IETs showing what they’re truly capable of. However, while leaving the tunnel, it also became apparent as to why we were travelling so slowly – the flooding was significant and, at times, nearly reached the top of the rails.
A second service followed shortly, where I was slightly rudely reminded that I’d already been told the list of soft drinks available, and I had a Pepsi and a biscuit – enough to keep me going through to Cardiff. We arrived into Cardiff just over an hour late after a clear run into the station. Having spoken to Great Western Railway on Twitter, to my surprise, they confirmed that I could receive Delay Repay for my Seatfrog upgrade, as well as the base ticket. This meant that I would receive 100% of my ticket cost back and hence had a free trip up to Cardiff.
Ignoring the fact that my journey didn’t end up costing me anything, I was impressed by the First Class experience on GWR’s IET and would definitely consider it again, especially if I could get another £10 upgrade. The catering was slightly subpar but in line with other Train Operating Companies’ offering for routes of a similar length. The seat was comfortable, and I felt relaxed upon arriving in Cardiff.
Suggestions for improvement:
James
17th February 2020
Today’s journey started with me running to make the 11:13 service from Woking to Portsmouth & Southsea after seeing the 11:25 service, which I had planned to get, had been cancelled while I walked over Woking’s footbridge. I just made this train, thanks to the guard holding the doors for me.
This friendly guard proceeded to have a conversation with me and we discussed my planned itinerary for this trip and my hope that I’d still manage it despite severe weather causing major disruption throughout Wales. To my surprise, the guard then checked the tickets of all those aboard, even asking for railcards, a true luxury on the South Western Railway where most guards sit in the rear cab conducting their “oh so safety critical” roles – in fact proving that drivers are perfectly capable of opening and closing the doors from the cab…
I ended up arriving into Guildford significantly earlier than I had intended to, resulting in a long wait on the cold platform and me having to exercise the utmost self control to avoid breaking my journey and making a visit to the station’s Costa. I was holding on in the hope that I would win the Seatfrog auction and hence a £10 upgrade to First Class on one of Great Western Railway’s infamously uncomfortable Intercity Express Trains, which fortunately I did.
I took my seat on the moderately busy Networker Turbo and thought I better check my journey on GWR JourneyCheck, following the constant bombardment of reminders to, “check before travel,” that I receive from every Train Operating Company going and Network Rail. In this instance, I was glad I did as I discovered that my train would be diverted past Swindon, adding 41 minutes to the journey – something very poorly advertised. This also explained my service was VAR this morning, when I checked in on Real Time Trains, I thought something more than a change from electrification to diesel in certain sections was the cause of this…
I finished off a fortnight’s old copy of RAIL magazine on my iPad, downloaded the next on Great Western Railway’s consistently working WiFi, and enjoyed the surprisingly scenic ride through suburbia to Reading.
Arriving into Reading on time, I was delighted to discover that I could fit my iPad Mini into my coat pocket, making my travel around the station a lot easier, without having to stow my tablet back into my rather full bag. I made my way with 10 minutes to spare over to Platform 9B, and stood in Zone 4, where my new seat reservation from Seatfrog would be most easily accessible from.
However, as time went by, I became concerned by the IET on the adjacent platform not having moved upwards of 10 minutes from its scheduled departure and decided it was time to investigate. I made my way towards the, “Staff Information,” screen and watched some very unusual signalling moves and then eventually saw that my train, 1B14, had been signalled into Platform 12 – very much not Platform 9. A GWR Train Manager joined me at the screen and seemed as perplexed as I, and at the point I decided to make my way over to the new platform, giving me a 30 second advantage while we waited for National Rail’s Darwin to catch up with the replatforming.
I managed to board my train, but became stuck behind a trolley – the operator of which kindly informed me there we free seats further up and the train and cleared a space for me to pass through. I walked through half a carriage of Standard seating on the IET and was reminded of the many hours I’ve spent on those, “rocks masquerading as Standard Class seats,” as my colleague very fittingly put it.
I must admit that I was a bit disappointed when I first entered the First Class carriage, as I saw children running around and the whole carriage was quite dirty. The train definitely needed a wash, which sadly made it hard to take any good photos out of the window and gave a delightful grey tint to the view. The table seemed somewhat sticky and the seat was adorned with crumbs, however it was thankfully a lot more comfortable than the Standard Class slabs and the moveable headrest was a nice touch. However, the parts of the headrest you would expect to be able to fold in to lean on, you could not which was quite disappointing. The reclining mechanism worked as expected and gave a very generous amount of recline. Tables were well sized and legroom was generous in every seat I sampled.
I plugged my laptop’s charger into the well positioned plug sockets, accompanied by USB ports, on the side of the seat and cracked on with some work. Fifteen minutes down the line, we were travelling very slowly and eventually came to an unscheduled stop at Didcot Parkway, where we waited for a freight train to pass ahead of us. At this point, I’d started to become hungry and was eagerly awaiting the promised, “at-seat food and drink service,” promised for First Class customers.
We pulled into Swindon where I admired the lovely new Infotec Departure Boards, with so much more information than we’re given on the South Western Mainline. These space-age looking departure boards stood in stark contrast to the white lettering which adorned the waiting room in British Rail’s Rail Alphabet font reading, “Air Conditioned Waiting Room.”
Following our departure from Swindon, at 13:40, to my delight, the, “at-seat service,” began and upon asking what was on offer, I was only told about food and the host neglected to mention the complimentary food available, however she was very kind so we’ll let it slide. I was then offered either a cheese or ham sandwich, I opted for the cheese which transpired to be Cheese and Chutney – luckily still to my liking. I was hoping for one of the Great Western Railway Roast Beef sandwiches I saw being dished out on a High Speed Train years ago, however all of GWR’s produce now seems to be outsourced. I was given a packet of Tyrells Lightly Sea Salted crisps and a cup of coffee, which was just about right, and served in a GWR First Class cup (pictured below).
The sandwich was acceptable, but nothing at all extraordinary, the bread wasn’t dry but also wasn’t fresh and the filling was pleasant. The crisps were fine, but again, nothing more.
As I devoured my lunch, we spent what seemed not far from an eternity (30 minutes) crawling through Chipping Sodbury Tunnel, I believe due to flooding, which very unpleasantly caused my ears to pop countless times as water splashed on the train windows. I spent a while cursing the sake of Chipping Sod while the temperature of the train continued to decline to an almost uncomfortably cold level. Luckily, I still had some of my economically sized coffee to keep me warm.
As we left the tunnel, our slow speed (5mph Temporary Speed Restriction) continued until 14:40, where we rapidly accelerated to 100mph, with the IETs showing what they’re truly capable of. However, while leaving the tunnel, it also became apparent as to why we were travelling so slowly – the flooding was significant and, at times, nearly reached the top of the rails.
A second service followed shortly, where I was slightly rudely reminded that I’d already been told the list of soft drinks available, and I had a Pepsi and a biscuit – enough to keep me going through to Cardiff. We arrived into Cardiff just over an hour late after a clear run into the station. Having spoken to Great Western Railway on Twitter, to my surprise, they confirmed that I could receive Delay Repay for my Seatfrog upgrade, as well as the base ticket. This meant that I would receive 100% of my ticket cost back and hence had a free trip up to Cardiff.
Ignoring the fact that my journey didn’t end up costing me anything, I was impressed by the First Class experience on GWR’s IET and would definitely consider it again, especially if I could get another £10 upgrade. The catering was slightly subpar but in line with other Train Operating Companies’ offering for routes of a similar length. The seat was comfortable, and I felt relaxed upon arriving in Cardiff.
Suggestions for improvement:
- Let customers know further in advance about planned diversions and give more accurate estimated arrival times.
- Increase catering offer to include a better variety, and train staff on what is being served. Increase portion size, especially on hot drinks.
- Create a First Class lounge at Reading, seeing as it is a massive interchange for GWR.
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